BETTER FINANCE welcomes this unique initiative from EIOPA as an example of best practice in terms of supervision and investor protection, not only at the EU level but on the global regulatory scene, especially given the architecture of the distribution market for retail investment products. EU savers have been slowly diverted from direct investments towards
BETTER FINANCE believes that the main challenges and opportunities for next 10 years will be: Reorienting the equity and bond funding towards sustainable investments. The identification of sustainable investments must be based on facts and science, not on emotions and ideologies, and on the probability to have a positive impact on the environment, society and
Below please find the European Commission Reply to the Open Letter by BETTER FINANCE and its members against any postponement of the implementation of the Shareholder Rights Directive II.
Traditionally, in most EU Member States, people count on the state-based pension. Only in big companies occupational pension schemes are accepted more broadly if not compulsory. In many Members States, personal pension products are little used because of complexity, high fees, not transparent contract clauses and recently the low interest rate phase, which reduces the
BETTER FINANCE REPLY TO THE CONSULTATION PAPER ON THE PROPOSAL FOR GUIDELINES UNDER THE INSURANCE DISTRIBUTION DIRECTIVE ON INSURANCE-BASED INVESTMENT PRODUCTS THAT INCORPORATE A STRUCTURE WHICH MAKES IT DIFFICULT FOR THE CUSTOMER TO UNDERSTAND THE RISKS INVOLVED
BETTER FINANCE provides its response to the joint consultation launched by ESMA and EBA.
BETTER FINANCE took part in the consultation on the Potential Harmonization of Recovery and and Resolution Frameworks for Insurers launched by EIOPA ( European Insurance and Occupational Pension Authority). With this consultation, EIOPA will develop its view on harmonising recovery and resolution frameworks for insurers and might publish an Opinion addressed to the EU institutions.
BETTER FINANCE provides its response to ESMA’s Consultation on the draft guidelines on MiFID governance requirements.
BETTER FINANCE keenly supports the European Commission’s proposal to launch a Pan-European Personal Pension product (PEPP) as a key component of the Capital Markets Union (CMIU) initiative. The extreme fragmentation of the numerous EU markets in Personal Pension Products (PPP) hampers the development of badly needed economies of scale. BETTER FINANCE strongly doubts that any
BETTER FINANCE keenly supports the European Commission’s proposal to launch a Pan-European Personal Pension product (PEPP) as a key component of the Capital Markets Union (CMU) initiative. The extreme fragmentation of the numerous EU markets in Personal Pension Products (PPP) hampers the development of badly needed economies of scale. BETTER FINANCE strongly doubts that any
EuroFinuse agrees with the general recommendation of the Expert Group on the necessity of legal separation between risky financial activities from deposit-taking activities within a banking group. We agree as well that this separation should be aimed at protecting their socially most vital parts, which indeed are deposit-taking and those related to the provision of
EuroFinuse firmly believes that the commercial banking activities (i.e. the intermediated funding of the real economy – businesses and households – should be separated as much as possible from all other activities such as securities, currencies and derivatives trading, investment banking, asset management, insurance, etc. that commercial banks have been diversifying into over recent decades.
Erkki Liikanen, Governor of the Bank of Finland and chairman of the high-level group established in 2012 to examine possible reforms to the structure of the EU’s banking sector, suggested that organisations that carry out banking activities but are not banks may need to be regulated like traditional banks following a significant increase of such activities.
Today the European Commission proposed the long-awaited financial market reform aimed at banning proprietary trading by the largest banks and thereby protect taxpayers from the potential costs of rescuing them. The proposal aims to remodel bank structures in order to reduce complexity and curb market speculation supported by state-backed deposits. Only banks whose assets are above
The European Union will ease the financial reforms that would force big banks to ring-fence their retails departments from riskier investment operations. On the European Commission draft proposal that the Financial Times had access to, the separation is no longer mandatory and would be less costly than first envisaged. National supervisors are also given wide
With regards to the EPFSF event from 29 January 2013 on “The Liikanen Report: do we need a reform of the EU banking structure?" to which EuroFinuse participated please find here the statement of Managing Director Guillaume Prache.
The EU commissioner in charge of regulatory reform, Michel Barnier "has signalled a retreat from plans to force lenders to build barriers around their securities trading operations, as policy makers focus on stimulating growth." According to the Financial Times, Barnier said "that any implementation of last year’s Liikanen report on the structure of European banks would
Jonathan Hill, Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union proposes to dispose of three major pieces of financial legislation in the institutional pipeline. Background: Shortly after the new composition of the Commission had been confirmed, Frans Timmermans, the European Commission’s Vice-President responsible for “Better Regulation”, asked all Commissioners to inform him about
The European Central Bank organized a second comprehensive stress test for over 120 most important banks in the EU. The test, announced in January 2014, will be delivering results this Sunday, October 26 (see a detailed timeline). The European Banking Authority (EBA) compares the stress test to a tactics employed in the construction sector: “when
Guillaume Prache, 4 April 2013 The ECOFIN Council meeting held on 5 March 2013 widely endorsed the proposed bonuses cap provisions as contained in the upcoming Capital Requirements Directive (CRD IV). To cap bank bonuses at salaries level as the EU institutions decided does not address the real issue around the outrageous remuneration of many
[A provisional version of the publication was available in January 2024. The document has been updated to the final March 2024 version] The report by CFA Institute and BETTER FINANCE critically reviews the EU’s listing rules, targeting reforms to improve public market accessibility for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It aims to foster debate amidst
BETTER FINANCE welcomes the horizontal and vertical dimensions represented in the objectives of the taxonomy. Furthermore, we would like to suggest expanding the horizontal dimension based on the promotion of gender equality which should not be based only on the gender pay gap but also on freedom of expression, assembly, etc.
BETTER FINANCE believes that the European Commission should not further diminish the ambition of ESRS. At the very least, there should be a set of mandatory disclosure requirements (such as GHG emissions) irrespective of materiality assessments made by companies.
For a decade, BETTER FINANCE has flagged the persistently low real returns in EU long-term and pension savings. As government and occupational pensions dwindle, Public Authorities urge earlier and increased savings for retirement. Yet, this advice often disregards a fundamental issue: inadequate, sometimes negative, long-term real returns after inflation. BETTER FINANCE reports disprove the claim
The European Commission has issued the Delegated Act on the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) to enhance transparency in sustainability reporting by companies. However, it faces criticism for weakening key aspects of the initial proposal by the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) and neglecting vital concerns. Critics
BETTER FINANCE, as an independent financial expertise center serving European financial services users, represents millions of individual investors in Europe who stand to benefit from the draft non-financial reporting Standards developed by EFRAG. BETTER FINANCE welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the draft Delegated Act (DA) by the European Commission concerning the European Sustainability
BETTER FINANCE released its updated report on the progress of the European Capital Markets Union (CMU), and the results are discouraging. The report analyses the first five key performance indicators (KPIs) used to assess the progress of the CMU, and adds two additional KPIs to reflect developments in EU capital markets. The report is based
BETTER FINANCE welcomes and supports EIOPA’s ongoing work on a supervisory toolkit to assess the value for money offered by unit linked and hybrid insurance products. Since its creation, BETTER FINANCE has been fighting for regulatory and supervisory action to improve the returns of long-term and pension saving products. As BETTER FINANCE research shows, high
The Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation (SFDR) started applying in March 2021 and requires financial market participants and financial advisers to disclose at entity and product levels how they integrate sustainability risks and principal adverse impacts in their processes at both entity and product levels. It also introduces additional product disclosures for sustainable financial products making
BETTER FINANCE’s full Response to the Targeted Consultation on SRDs – Shareholder Rights Directives (SRD1 and SRD2) for the European Commission by the CSES — [15 December 2023]. BETTER FINANCE advocates for the enforcement of investors’ and shareholders’ rights, underscoring the pivotal role of engagement as a cornerstone within robust green transition plans and corporate
BETTER FINANCE strongly supports the intention to provide consumers with a clear and comprehensive view of their insurance policies, simplifying understanding and enabling easy product comparisons. BETTER FINANCE, however, has long called authorities themselves to centralize insurance/investment product information in order to enable (EU-wide) comparability tools. More generally, we also warn against the privatisation of
This consultation, divided in two parts, addresses first the functioning of the ESG ratings market, its potential shortcomings, and the need for EU intervention. Second, it aims to inform the Commission on possible shortcomings in relation to the consideration of sustainability factors in credit ratings; on disclosures made by Credit Rating Agencies; and on the
Individual, non-professional (“retail”) investors are significantly interested in sustainable investments and by extension rely not only on more data on climate or sustainability-related risks and opportunities, but also on more comparable, and comprehensible data in order to understand the risks and opportunities entities are exposed to.
BETTER FINANCE supports the newly suggested mandatory social indicators under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), which aim to measure principal adverse impacts (PAI).
BETTER FINANCE agrees with ESMA that names can be misleading if those funds do not invest in line with what their names would suggest.
The EU’s legislation in the fields of climate, energy and economic activities linked to greenhouse gas emissions needs to also take into consideration latest technological advancements and the way climate action can be incentivised for all.